Internal combustion engines operate at high temperatures and pressures. The engine block often includes cooling passages. The operating conditions and coolant leaks may lead to pitting, erosion, and corrosion on the head face(s) of the top deck. The pitting, erosion, and corrosion may reduce the operating life of the engine block.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,027,367 to H. Rondeau discloses an alloy of nickel and aluminum, which may contain varying percentages of intermetallics, in the form of a wire or rod that is sprayed in an electric arc spray gun to form a self-bonding coating on a smooth, clean substrate. Alternatively an alloy of nickel and titanium, which also may contain varying percentages of intermetallics, in the form of a wire may be similarly electric arc sprayed to effect a self-binding coating on a substrate. The nickel aluminum alloy and possibly intermetallics or the nickel titanium alloy and possibly intermetallics are supplied as a wire feed to the electric arc spray gun, and when heated in the electric arc of the spray gun and sprayed onto a substrate will form a coating that has a high degree of tenacity to many metal substrates and also has a moderate degree of hardness, low Rc, high Rb. The self-bonding is attributed to the formation of superheated liquid in the arc process and the affinity of that superheated liquid to iron, nickel, aluminum, etc.
The present disclosure is directed toward overcoming one or more of the problems discovered by the inventors or that is known in the art.